Tamil

The earliest known inscriptions in Tamil date back to 2,200 BC.
Tamil literature emerged in around 300 BC, and the language used from
then until the 700 AD is known as Old Tamil. From 700-1600 AD the language
is known as Middle Tamil, and since 1600 the language has been known as Modern Tamil.

Tamil was originally written with a version of the Brahmi script
known as Tamil Brahmi, and by the the 5th century AD this script
had become more rounded and developed into the vaṭṭeḻuttu script. The modern Tamil script (தமிழ் அரிச்சுவடி tamiḻ ariccuvaṭi), however, was created during
the 7th century based on the Grantha script, as descendent of Brahmi.
Over time the script has changed somewhat, and it was simplified in the
19th and 20th centuries.

The alphabet is well suited to writing literary Tamil, centamiḻ (செந்தமிழ்).
However it is ill-suited to writing colloquial Tamil, koṭuntamiḻ (கொடுந்தமிழ்).
During the 19th century, attempts were made to create a written version of
the colloquial spoken language. Nowadays the colloquial written language
appears mainly in school books and in passages of dialogue in fiction.

Notable features

Type of writing system: syllabic alphabet

Direction of writing: left to right in horizontal lines

When they appear the the beginning of a syllable, vowels are written
as independent letters.

Some of the non-standard consonant-vowel combinations are not used
in official documents.

The alphabet was originally written on palm leaves. As a result, the
letters are made up mainly of curved strokes which didn't rip the leaves.

Used to write:

Tamil (தமிழ்), a Dravidian language spoken by around 52 million
people in Indian, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Canada, the USA,
UK and Australia. It is the first language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu,
and is spoken by a significant minority of people (2 million) in north-eastern
Sri Lanka.

Tamil alphabet

Vowels and vowel diacritics

Non-standard consonant-vowel combinations

Consonants

The final five consonants (the blue ones) are known as grantha
letters and are used to write consonants borrowed from Sanskrit, and also
some words of English origin.

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They
are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another
in a spirit of brotherhood.(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)